Alaska 2009

Graham & Elaine

Last update 26^th July 2009

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4^th May 2009 – Home to Kent Narrows, Maryland.

We had a largely uneventful flight (although I would like to know why every time they provide us with hot coffee on this flight we hit turbulence!) but this time, unlike all of our previous flights here, the aircraft was half empty. The crew seemed to think it was due to a combination of the recession, the swine flu scare and the fact that we were flying on a Bank Holiday; whatever the reason it suited us fine. We arrived at BWI a little later than expected (the pilot said he’d been instructed to take “the long way round” to make his approach) and then, unusually, waited quite some time for transport to the Car Rental facility (more about our rental later), so by the time we left the airport it was gone 21:00. It was also belting with rain and pitch dark so instead of trying to make it down to Jeff’s in Ocean City (we wouldn’t have arrived until gone midnight), we called it a day after we’d crossed the Bay Bridge and checked in to a motel for the night and rang Jeff to tell him not to expect us. We had booked out rental car on-line from the UK and had ordered a ‘compact’ car which is usually something the size of a Ford Focus, however, despite the fact we’d only paid $27 for the car, they had allocated us a Dodge Magnum a huge beast of a car with a sporty low level roofline and silly little windows. The car drove fine but the visibility was atrocious, so all things considered, I would rather have had a Focus!

5^th May 2009 – Kent Narrows to Ocean City.

It was very overcast when we left the motel this morning but at least it was dry so the fact that I couldn’t find a rear wash/wipe on ‘the beast’ wasn’t such a big deal. We arrived at Jeff’s at around midday and spent the afternoon catching up before going out to a harbour side restaurant for the evening to celebrate ‘Cinqo de Mayo’ a Mexican festival complete with plenty of Margaritas and Sombreros!! We had heavy rain again later in the day but as we were indoors it didn’t affect us too much.

6^th May 2009 – Ocean City.

Another overcast morning, which we spent goofing around the house. During the afternoon Jeff drove us around the area the so that we could do one of the things we’ve been saying for ages that we’d do one day i.e. go and visit some of the Model Homes (show houses) that are around. We don’t expect to be able to do anything about buying over here but we wanted to see what we could get for our money if we ever had the opportunity and the answer is, an awful lot! We visited three different developments, one a Condo (apartment) block in Ocean City itself, not bad but not the sort of thing we’d really want, we then drove out to the Delaware shore and viewed some townhouses with great views and even greater facilities. The last place we visited was also on the Delaware shoreline and was absolutely superb if a little more pricey (but not compared to UK prices). We later drove along to Rehoboth Beach and the Dog’s Head Fish Brewery where we sampled some of the beers and had an enormous helping of beer battered fish and chips. Later in the evening Jeff’s son Gary arrived to show off his new Baby daughter who at just two months old is absolutely tiny (and very sweet). By the time we went to bed the heavens had well and truly opened and we were under a Tornado warning, thankfully that didn’t materialise!!

7^th May 2009 – Ocean City.

This morning was a little brighter and we went along to Ed’s to collect our Trike after it’s service, we then spent a few hours re-packing all of the ‘stuff’ we’d taken out of it when we left last year. This evening we’re planning (weather permitting) to go down to the beach to the first day of Ocean City Springfest.

8^th May 2009 – Ocean City.

We went along to Springfest last night and had a real good time. A large part of the beachfront is covered with huge marquees, two of which are full of craft stalls, another one is a food and beverages tent and besides that there is an outside stage with free entertainment and further marquee featuring a variety of bands over a four day period. We went in to see a band called ‘The Fabulous Hubcaps’ and they were really great, they played a mixture of mostly 50’s & 60’s music and put on a real good show. We came out to find that we were in the middle of a heavy lightning storm (so much so that they closed the festival a half-hour early) and went along to a bar that’s local to Jeff’s house where there was a bunch of local singers/musicians playing. All in all we had a great evening. Today the weather has been very warm & mostly sunny and we’ve been goofing around in the local area and resting up ready for another evening out at the Berlin Arts walk – not sure what that’s all about yet but we’ll no doubt find out soon enough.

9^th May 2009 - Ocean City.

We went to the Berlin Arts stroll last night and it is essentially a late night shopping night in a small historic town that’s filled with art galleries and boutique shops. We were joined by Gary, his wife Kirsten and the new baby and had a very pleasant evening. As Jeff & Edith were otherwise engaged today and it turned out to be very hot & sunny, we decided to have a lazy day sitting on one of the outside decks and watching the world go by, very relaxing. Ed joined us for the early part of the evening and we sat out and ate pizza before going indoors (just before the thunder, lightning and strong winds started) to watch a DVD.

10^th May 2009 – Ocean City to Hagerstown, Maryland.

Jeff and Edith were at church by the time we surfaced this morning so we waited to say our goodbyes before heading off. Our route took us north and west pretty much between the cities of Baltimore and Washington D.C. so there was lots of traffic (compounded by the fact that it’s Mothers Day over here and the world and his wife were out visiting). We had a warm and sunny ride although it was very windy so, what with the wind and the traffic it wasn’t an entirely comfortable ride but at least we’re through the worst of the ‘clag’. Mileage on bike at start of tour was 29,075.

11^th May 2009 – Hagerstown to Canton, Ohio.

We weren’t quite so lucky with the weather today, it’s been wet on and off all day (mostly on!) we even rode through a thunderstorm, which, with the lightning they get over here definitely isn’t recommended, but we couldn’t find anywhere to shelter so we just had to sit it out. We continued to make our way north and west and saw our first wildlife in the shape of two Marmots but, unfortunately, the second one is now a very different shape as it ran out on us and straight under our back wheels, not nice.

12^th May 2009 – Canton to Fort Wayne, Indiana.

Today was a great day for a ride, sunny just about all the way and, although a little cool to start with it warmed up nicely. We continued west across the remainder of Ohio which was, initially, very industrial and then turned in to field after field of agricultural land with little of any significance to see (which is why there haven’t been many photos so far). We’ve now checked in to a motel where we may stay for two nights, the reason being that they are predicting that a very strong storm front will be coming through here tomorrow and they’re saying there could be strong winds, severe thunderstorms and the possibility of tornados and if that’s the case we’re staying put!!!

13^th May 2009 – Fort Wayne.

As the weather forecast hadn’t improved we decided to stay where we were for today especially as the worst of it appeared to be exactly where we were heading. As it’s turned out it’s been very wet all day but we haven’t seen any thunderstorms here so far although, from what they say, they could still materialise tonight. By luck our motel is right next door to a Multiplex cinema so we whiled away a few hours this afternoon watching a film (or as they say over here, taking in a movie) and there we a whole ten people in a 184 seat cinema, it was almost like having a private film viewing. We expect to be on the move again tomorrow and continuing west in to Illinois, fingers crossed.

14^th May 2009 – Fort Wayne to Peoria, Illinois.

The thunderstorms finally caught up with us in the early hours of this morning; lots of rumbling, rain and lightning but no tornadoes where we were (thankfully) although not too far south of us people didn’t fair quite so well. By the time we left this morning it was warm(ish) and sunny as we continued through around 250 miles of the same scenery, mile after mile of arable land interspersed with the occasional small community and/or huge grain store Co-operative. We’re now in a larger (not particularly nice) town and in a budget hotel, it’s around half the cost of some of the others (and you definitely seem to get what you pay for) but it does have the benefit of being in walking distance of a restaurant. The weather forecast for tomorrow isn’t too good with a predicted 80% chance of rain and the possibility of thunderstorms so, although we will plan to move on, we may not go too far, we’ll have to see.

15^th May 2009 – Peoria.

Well, that proved to be an interesting night; the budget motel I mentioned seems to come complete with it’s own breed of resident. When we checked in yesterday afternoon there was one woman who was very obviously already as drunk as a skunk, and there was quite a kafuffle during the early hours too with the local Police ‘removing’ someone/some people from the building; not sure why but there were rumours of the manager taking offence at a strange smelling substance wafting into the corridors!! Despite the ‘luxury’ of our surroundings we’ve stayed a second night as we woke to the sights and sounds of a thunderstorm and warnings of severe weather. It’s now evening time and it’s barely stopped raining all day, there have been thunderstorms on and off, we’re currently under a flash flood warning and on the edge of a tornado watch area – terrific. Now, you may think we’re being a pair of cissies by sitting out the bad weather but to give you some idea of what it’s like, they’ve reported over 1200 lightning strikes in one hour and there are roads closed due to flooding. The forecast is better for tomorrow and we intend to move on even if we have to revise our route to avoid any floodwaters.

16^th May 2009 – Peoria to Eldridge, Iowa.

We had a quieter night last night and it’s stopped raining – hoorah! Unfortunately, although it’s been dry it’s also been extremely windy particularly as we’ve been travelling across open farmland again. We finally admitted defeat and stopped early when we reached a road with warnings of strong crosswinds and almost had to hang off of the bike to stay in a straight line. We’ve only covered around 160 miles but it’s been really tiring, it didn’t help that we got slightly mislaid early on and then had to take fairly long detour around a road that was closed because of a bridge being’ out’. We’ve also passed a number of waterways that were well and truly flooded after the past few days, it seems that some areas have had over 5 inches of rain. Fingers crossed it’s supposed to be better still tomorrow.

17^th May 2009 – Eldridge to Clear Lake, Iowa.

The weather has been better today, much better. It was cool but sunny as we continued north and west initially through more flat arable farmland and then in to a slightly more undulating landscape, still mainly arable but with a few relatively small dairy farms thrown in, apart from that there hasn’t been much to see. Unfortunately, the forecast for tomorrow is for very strong winds again and, as we’re still in a very exposed area, we’ll have to see whether or not we decide to move on.

18^th May 2009- Clear Lake to Watertown, South Dakota.

What a strange day. As the predicted strong winds had arrived overnight we decided that, rather than stay on the country roads where there was little chance of taking refuge, we would take to the Interstate where there were plenty of exits. Our plan had been to head for Sioux Falls, South Dakota but having travelled north on I35 for 30 miles or so we turned west onto I90 and it became obvious that we weren’t going to make it (the crosswinds on I90 were running at 30 mph and gusting to 40mph) so we stopped in a gas station to look at the maps. As the winds hadn’t really affected us on I35 we decided to continue north until we reached the outskirts of Minneapolis (Minnesota) and then see how things were. As the winds had eased somewhat by then, we took a left onto Highway 212 west with the intention of seeing if we could still make it to South Dakota. We hit road works and a diversion part way through and, stupidly, decided to follow our SatNav which took us onto a dirt road (a lot of the side roads are dirt around here). After that we hit another diversion which brought us back to the 212 anyway – Aarrgh! We then arrived at Watertown to find that the town is hosting a juniors golf tournament and most motels are booked out, luckily for us a very kind General Manager at the Best Western found us the last room in the place (and she told us it was happy hour in the bar too – nice lady). The other odd thing about today was the temperature, the best we saw yesterday was 59F and today it reached 90F, we had to keep stopping to take layers off! By the way, there were two things I forgot to mention yesterday; the first a piece of history, Clear Lake, Iowa is where Buddy Holly and his cohorts lost their lives in a plane crash 50 years ago last March and as we’ve now been to Iowa we can say that we’ve visited all of the lower 48 states on a motorcycle – not bad.

19^th May 2009 – Watertown to Pierre, South Dakota.

It was still windy when we left this morning but not uncomfortably so, it was also reasonably warm and sunny becoming hot and sunny as the day went on. We had originally planned to keep heading due west until we reached the Black Hills country but, having carried out a bit more research, we discovered that unless we made it a 380 mile day we would struggle to find accommodation (most of the settlements appear to be only 5 or 6 houses), instead we chose a route that still essentially went west but with a dog leg south in the middle, that has brought us to Pierre (pronounced Peer apparently) after just 210 miles, much more sensible. We have still been riding through huge expanses of open farmland but now there are more cattle ranches and there is a little more rise and fall in the landscape so it’s been a little more interesting to the eye, especially when we came to an area full of small lakes and wetlands that were full of all sorts of bird life, much nicer.

20^th May 2009 – Pierre to Deadwood, South Dakota.

Today’s ride was real hard work. Our route took us due west for almost 190 miles across the high plains (mostly between 2500 and 3500 feet) and we had a gale blowing from our right all the way across which made for a very uncomfortable ride, Graham did a great job getting us here in one piece. We made one stop en-route at a store cum post office cum gas station cum café and everyone who came in seemed surprised we were riding today; I think they though we were a little crazy and they may just have a point. It’s a real shame too as, without the wind it would have been a good ride; good road surfaces, good scenery and a smattering of Pronghorn Antelope none of which was caught on camera as I simply couldn’t manage the camera at the time. We’d almost made it across when were stopped by the local State Troopers who were undertaking a safety check, driver’s licence, headlamps etc. which was fine but seemed odd as they were out in the middle of nowhere and at least 15 miles from the nearest habitation. We reached Sturgis (where the largest motorcycle rally in the world takes place every August) at just about lunchtime having gained another hour by crossing in to Mountain Time (so we’re now 7 hours behind those of you who are in the UK) so we stopped for lunch at one of the local biker bars/cafes before continuing on to Deadwood our final stop for the day. We’ve been through Deadwood before but without having time to stop so we thought this time we’d take a look by catching the town trolley that stopped outside our motel. It turns out that the town has lots to offer if you’re in to gambling but not much otherwise so after a wander around we took the trolley around just about all of it’s route so had a 50 minute tour of the town to get back, not bad for $1 each.

21^st May 2009 – Deadwood to Buffalo, Wyoming.

We had a much better ride today, it had obviously rained overnight but was cloudy and dry by the time we left, it was also a bit on the chilly side. Initially our route took us up through the mountains and it got really quite cold at over 6500 feet (45F) and there was snow, although not much, along the roadside but the views made it worth it. We then went through more of the high plains again very pretty, particularly when the sun came out, and with lots of Pronghorn Antelope to see along the way. We’re now in a very pleasant motel just inside Wyoming and will be heading north and in to Montana tomorrow as we’ve arranged to meet up with a couple we dined with on our 2007 tour, should be good.

22^nd May 2009 – Buffalo to Red Lodge, Montana.

We left a little earlier than usual this morning, as we knew we had to be ready to meet Lee & Debi at around 17:30 this evening. The first part of our ride took us through the Big Horn Mountains (on the Cloud Peak Skyway) some of which were still covered in snow at the higher elevations (we reached 9512 feet) and the scenery was great, we even rode past a lake that was almost totally frozen over – very pretty. Once we came out of the mountains we hit the high plains again and initially this was great, unfortunately, as we neared the border with Montana it became pretty windy again so it was harder to enjoy the ride. As I said earlier, we’ll be going out to dinner this evening with Lee and Debi who helped us out with some paperwork when we were here in 2007, it will be good to see them again. We’re currently just up the road from the Beartooth Pass (which we’re not going over this time) and we’re told that the road will be officially opened tomorrow complete with it’s 20’ snow drifts. Tomorrow we’re heading north again to Great Falls and what may well be our last night (for now) in the USA. Mileage to date 2625.

23^rd May 2009 – Red Lodge to Great Falls, Montana.

We spent a very pleasant evening with Lee & Debi having supper in town before retiring to their beautiful home for a glass of wine and a chat – thanks for the hospitality guys. We had a really great ride today, it was a little cool to start with but we’ve had blue skies all the way and the scenery has been stunning (thanks in part to Lee for suggesting a different way out of Red Lodge). Our route took us through the Little Belt Mountains and the Lewis & Clark National Forest and we’ve seen lots of Pronghorn (two of which ran out in front of us), some deer, a fox and a variety of birds including Osprey so, as I said, it’s been a great day.

24^th May 2009 – Great Falls to Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada.

We were really lucky today, it may not have seemed like it first thing when we were riding through bucketing rain, or when we rode through the Blackfeet Indian reservation with it’s high wind warnings (oh joy, rain and crosswinds!) or when we hit some standing water that caused a tidal wave that reached my waist and slowly dripped down in to my right boot but, we WERE very lucky as the sun started to come out just as we had sight of the mountains in Glacier National Park, some of the views were truly stunning (it’s as well we weren’t planning on visiting the Park though as the Going to the Sun road is still closed because of snow). We crossed in to Canada without a hitch the nice lady at the customs office asked a few questions e.g. did we have more than $10,000 cash with us (I wish…) and then sent us on our way. It was an easy ride from there to Lethbridge where we’re staying for the night so that we can spend a little bit of time planning exactly where we’re going from here (it helps now that we have a map of Alberta).

25^th May 2009 – Lethbridge to Banff, Alberta.

We had a bit of a mixed ride today, some sun, some rain (not much), some gusty winds (not too bad), some major roads and some minor roads. Initially, we headed west and then turned north on a more minor road that started with a sign saying no services for 135km; as we’d filled up with gas 80 or so miles previously we were fine for fuel but decided to stop at the local services on the way just in case and, as there was a café across the road that had a few bikes outside we decided to stay for refreshments too. While in the café we got talking to a very nice couple from Calgary riding a Kawasaki Concourse who gave us some very useful information about some of the highways we’re planning to take. We then discovered that the road we were intending to take today wouldn’t be opened until 15^th June (partly because of snow and partly because the Rocky Mountain Sheep use the area to lamb) so had to make some rapid adjustments. Further along the road a guy (Jeff) riding a yellow Harley pulled up along side us and signalled us to follow him if we wanted a drink so, naturally, we followed (it turned out that Jeff is a Homicide detective, as Graham said, it added a new dimension to saying we’d been pulled over by the Police). We stopped a short way up the road at a café run by his wife Aleisha (who originates from Poland) so we spent a happy half-hour chatting to them before heading off again (Jeff also gave us details of a more interesting route to Banff). We’re now sitting in a very nice hotel right in the middle of town (Banff being a definite tourist town) that we managed to get for a very reasonable $89 Canadian (£53) so as we didn’t arrive until quite late, we MAY decide to stay a second night.

26^th May 2009 – Banff.

As you can see we did stay a second night and we’ve spent the day being tourists. This morning we took a local bus out to the Gondola that takes you up to the summit of Sulphur Mountain where you can get some great views of the town and the surrounding mountains (it’s something we didn’t get to do when we were here 16 years ago). The rest of the day we’ve spent goofing around the town and planning the next part of our route, which tomorrow, will see us riding the Icefields Parkway up to Jasper.

27^th May 2009 – Banff to Jasper, Alberta.

We left a little later than usual this morning as it was rather chilly first thing, once we did start out it was around 55F so not bad at all. Instead of staying on the main road to the start of the Icefields Parkway we took a more scenic route along the Bow Valley Parkway through forests surrounded by mountains, very pretty. Once we joined the Icefields Parkway the altitude started to increase, the temperature started to decrease and, as we rode through the falling snow, it dropped to 37F (3C) so pretty chilly in places but, it was a nice ride despite the chill air. There a number of glaciers that can be seen clearly from the roadway including the Athebasca Glacier which we visited in a tracked bus 16 years ago, it will be interesting to compare ‘photos when we get home to see if we can ‘spot the difference’. A number of people have confirmed that the side trip we intend making along the Yellowhead Highway to Price Rupert (around 600 miles in and the same back out again) is worth the effort so we plan to make a start on that tomorrow.

28^th May 2009 – Jasper to Prince George, British Columbia.

It was fairly late again when we left this morning but this time it was pretty cold at around 42F; having said that, it was great day for a ride as we had blue skies all the way and it did warm to 63F by this afternoon. For the first part the highway was fairly busy but once the traffic heading for Kamloops diverted off it was much less busy and more pleasant. Some of the views along the way were great, particularly Mount Robson (the second highest peak in B.C.) as it was surrounded by bright blue skies. We’re now one third of the way to Prince Rupert (on the Pacific coast) and have crossed in to Pacific Time, so 8 hours behind the U.K. There are few real towns along the way so, in that sense, opportunities for accommodation are limited and we’re staying Prince George which is rather busy for our liking but it did have a number of motels to choose from. As we’re now heading in to the weekend we’ve booked accommodation for the next two nights just in case.

29^th May 2009 – Prince George to Smithers, B.C.

Today’s ride was fairly uninspiring really; the first portion of the journey took us through large areas that were badly scarred by recent logging activity. From there we went through farmland then lakes (quite pretty but..) and finally to the edge of the mountains again, it wasn’t a bad ride just nothing special and it’s been overcast and cool for much of the day too. The only real upside is that we saw our first bald eagles flying alongside the road, we still haven’t seen much else in the way of wildlife but that may still happen, only time will tell.

30^th May 2009 – Smithers to Prince Rupert, B.C.

Today has been an altogether better day, we’ve spent the best part of the day riding through a deep valley (dropping to 9 feet above sea level in places) surrounded by snow capped mountains and for most of the time we were accompanied by a wide, fast-flowing river, all very pretty. The only slight fly in the ointment was that it’s was pretty cold and the keen wind that, from time to time, blew straight down the valley made us all the more aware of the temperature. Still, any discomfort we suffered paled into insignificance compared to some hardy souls we came across who were running a road race through the same valley and it seemed to go on forever. We’ve checked in to our motel which is overlooking the coast (we’re now on the far west coast of Canada) and I’ve been sitting in the window of our room watching the bald eagles fly past – can’t be bad.

31^st May 2009 – Prince Rupert to Smithers, B.C.

Today has been a cracking day for a ride. It’s been warmer (reaching 70F this afternoon), less windy and as we rode back to Smithers there wasn’t a cloud in the sky so some of the views that were partly obscured yesterday were as clear as a bell today – fabulous. One other thing we saw today that we didn’t see yesterday was a black bear, we had slowed to cross an uneven railroad track and, no more than 20 feet way from us was a bear that appeared to be investigating the railway signal box, we took a few pictures but didn’t hang around to see what it was going to do next! We made one slight detour this afternoon to visit the historic town of Old Hazleton which is part original and part replica of an 1860’s pioneer town, other than that, the route back to Smithers was the same but we’re staying in a better motel this time. Mileage to date 4559.

1^st June 2009 – Smithers to Prince George, B.C.

When we left our chosen restaurant yesterday evening there were a number of motorcycles in the parking lot bearing Alaska registration plates and we were fortunate enough to get to chat to some of the riders both last night and this morning (they stayed at the same motel) and have gathered some more useful information about the route etc. (they’ve also offered to provide us with details of any ride outs that might be on once we reach Alaska). We had sunny skies again today but, as we expected, the views were less dramatic and we made Prince George pretty early. Tomorrow we’ll be making for Dawson Creek and the official start of the Alaska Highway.

2^nd June 2009 – Prince George to Dawson Creek, B.C.

Another great day for a ride, blue skies and warm temperatures, we couldn’t ask for better. We’ve started the journey north (proper) now and have ridden through large areas of pine forest as well as a small(ish) range of mountains and some farmland so quite a mixed day for scenery. We also saw a total of four more black bears today, a family group of three including a tiny cub (unfortunately, I didn’t manage to get any ‘photos as we were moving and so were they) and a lone bear up on a cleared slope. We still haven’t seen any moose but there’s plenty of time yet. We’re spending the night in Dawson Creek, the official start of the Alaska Highway and will be completing the first 300 miles of the highway tomorrow. We’ve discovered, by speaking to the tourist office that a number of lodgings along the highway have closed over the past two years so it looks as though, for peace of mind, we’re going to be booking ahead for a while.

3^rd June 2009 – Dawson Creek to Fort Nelson, B.C.

Well, that’s the first 300 miles of the Alaska Highway behind us and, to be honest there wasn’t much to see on any of it just lots and lots of trees with a very, very long road running through it!! For the most part the road was in pretty good condition but there were a few sections that can best be described as bumpy and which caused a little oil leakage from the front forks (it’s been looked at by an ex-Goldwing mechanic and it seems to be a case of just keeping an eye on it). There doesn’t appear to be much to see in Fort Nelson so we’ll be continuing on to Lake Watson tomorrow, another run of just over 300 miles.

4^th June 2009 – Fort Nelson to Watson Lake, Yukon.

It’s been a bit of a day of contrasts today; it started off overcast, damp and cold but the weather improved as the day went on. Unfortunately, the road surface didn’t, it’s been okay in stretches (small ones), a bit bumpy in others and VERY bumpy in others, then you throw in the ruddy great potholes and frost heaves and it’s made it a long but worthwhile day (the bumps do, however mean that the front fork is still leaking oil). We’ve ticked off another 300+ miles of the Alaska Highway; we’ve seen three more black bears, two moose (a mother and small calf), lots of Buffalo, some wild horses and lots of Bighorn sheep. For 200 miles or so we also saw some really great scenery, the other 100 was split into the first 50 being fairly boring and the remaining 50 being obscured by smoke from a very large (10,000 hectares) forest fire. We’d heard about the fire yesterday and been told the highway was open but as we travelled further north rumours of road closures started to emerge, luckily they were allowing traffic past the scene of the fire under police escort but, as I mentioned, we were travelling through quite a lot of smoke for quite a few miles. Once we were beyond the worst of the fire we stopped at a small lodge for fuel and a drink and, whilst we were there the Forestry service arrived to tell the owners that they were being placed under a compulsory evacuation order!!!

5^th June 2009 – Watson Lake to Skagway, Alaska.

It seems we were lucky to get to Watson Lake yesterday as they did, at one point, close the highway and we spoke to a guy who was having trouble finding a motel room as people who had been turned back had taken them all. Our room overnight was really hot but we couldn’t leave the window open as all we could smell was smoke from the fires that were over 100 miles behind us!! Today has been great; the roads have been a bit better (not a lot but a bit) unless, of course, you take in to account the long stretches of gravel that are labelled as construction areas (we didn’t see any evidence of construction work!). The weather has been kind to us too, a bit hazy to start but otherwise sunny all the way. Most of the day was spent on the Alaska Highway but we’ve now taken a bit of a side trip into Skagway, Alaska (it’s on a peninsula surrounded by either water or Canada – we visited here 16 years ago on our cruise) and the views to get us here have been the best we’ve seen yet – absolutely stunning. Our wildlife spotting got off to a slow start but at one point we saw ‘something’ running across the road in front of us and Graham said “that looks like a wolf” but then we thought ‘ no it couldn’t have been’ BUT having looked at the pictures I took it was – wow!!! We also had a black bear walk across the road in front of us, stop, take a look at us and then carry on it’s way – it was a strange feeling being stared at by a bear!! By the way, this is the 49^th state we’ve visited by motorcycle and we’re not likely to get to the last one by bike as it’s Hawaii.

6^th June 2009 – Skagway, Alaska.

As you can see, we’re spending a second night in Skagway as we’re planning on going to see a Honda dealer in Whitehorse on Monday to see if they can help with our leaky front fork. When we arrived here yesterday we called in at the local Visitors centre and asked what we should do whilst we were in town and a very helpful young lady suggested we went along to a show being held at the local school to celebrate the 50^th anniversary of Alaska’s statehood, she described the show as a bit like a ladies version of a barbershop choir. We did go along and it turned out to be a really good evening with a ladies accapelo choir singing songs relaying the history of Alaska some of which were new words put to well known tunes e.g. a song called Gold Fever sung to the tune of the BeeGee’s ‘Night Fever’ – very clever. We’ve spent today wandering around town in the very warm sunshine (yes, I know it’s Alaska but it was 77F when we arrived yesterday and must be at least the same now) and chatting to a few people along the way, some of whom had arrived on the cruise ships. We’re told that we picked a good time to be here as on a Tuesday/Wednesday they can have up to seven cruise ships and ten thousand people in town (and the towns permanent population is only around 800) so we’ve made the most of the peace and quiet.

7^th June 2009 – Skagway to Whitehorse, Yukon.

We spent part of yesterday evening at a tourist show called “The Days of ‘98’ where we were given some fake money to gamble with before we watched a small cast sing and dance their way through a part of the town’s history – it was well done and also very funny in places. We left this morning and had a good run back out of town, the views were still very good but not quite as clear as those we had on the way in. We saw another Black Bear (or it might have been the same one we saw on the way in as it was in the same general area) on our way out but didn’t manage to get any pictures as it saw us and hid behind a bush (well, who can blame it). We then re-joined the Alaska Highway where we left off and we’re now in Whitehorse, the capital of the Yukon Territory and, although it’s bigger than most of the other communities we’ve been through up here, it certainly isn’t big by U.K. standards. We’ll be going along to see the Honda mechanic tomorrow morning so plans for the next day or so are a little loose at the moment – we’ll see what he says.

8^th June 2009 – Whitehorse to Beaver Creek, Yukon.

We went along to see the Honda mechanic this morning but, unfortunately, there was nothing he could do to help as he does not stock the ‘O’ ring that would be needed to rectify the problem but he did say that he doesn’t see it as a huge problem as there’s lots of oil in the fork and it will take “a long time” before it all comes out, even on these roads. As there was no point in staying any longer we called ahead and booked in to a motel around 280 miles further on and then left for Day 4 on the Alaska Highway. When we first left Whitehorse the road was a little rough but then evened out nicely for quite a while until, that was, we found the first of today’s road works that involved a very long, very dusty stretch of dirt road. In total we had to negotiate three very long sections of dirt, some of which had been watered to keep the dust down so both we and the trike look like we’ve been through a mud bath. The views along the way were, once again great, particularly when we reached Kluane Lake which was still largely frozen and where it wasn’t frozen it gave off reflections that were as clear as a bell. It was close to the Lake that we saw our first Grizzly bear; it decided to cross the road in front of us just as an SUV passed us, we really thought there was going to be a collision but, thankfully, not. We stopped at a Lodge on the side of the Lake for lunch and some fuel and the guy at the gas station told us that the next 110 miles or so of road was really rough and to watch out for the red flags (they try to mark the really big holes with small red flags on the side of the road) and it turns out he was right, it wasn’t rough all the way but some sections were awful with big dips and frost heaves. Because of the configuration of the trike we get movement on two planes front to back and side to side so it was rather like riding a bucking bronco at times. The motel we’re staying in doesn’t have T.V. or any such luxury but does have a ‘dinner show’ each evening so we’re going to go along and join the other tourists to watch the show.

9^th June 2009 – Beaver Creek to Fairbanks, Alaska.

Well, we’ve made it; we’ve ridden all of the Alaska Highway which officially ends in Delta Junction and unofficially ends in Fairbanks the capital of Alaska (the bit to Fairbanks is part of the Richardson Highway). The journey to get us here was a long one; we left at around 09:00, gained an hour when we crossed the border and arrived in Fairbanks at around 17:00 so 9 hours later. Thankfully, the roads improved a lot once we crossed the border, they’re still not great in places but a whole lot better none-the-less. The scenery along the way was okay but nothing special, lots of trees and lakes with no wildlife sightings at all. Our original intention had been to take a look around the town of Tok, the first one you come to after the border crossing but there wasn’t much there so we carried on towards Delta Junction making a stop along the way at The Sawmill Creek Lodge which is to host a motorcycle rally on June 19^th to 23^rd. We met Thomas, the guy who runs the rally at his lodge/bar 20 miles or so south of Delta Junction and he’s said that we would be welcome to call back for all or part of the rally and we hope to be able to do that. We had also considered staying at Delta Junction but after we arrived there and took the obligatory ‘end of the Alaska Highway’ photos we decided that, as there wasn’t much there either, we’d continue on to Fairbanks instead.

10^th June 2009 – Fairbanks to Denali National Park, Alaska.

We’ve seen more traffic since arriving in the Fairbanks area than we’ve seen in the previous 7 or 8 days put together; it’s rather like someone has taken a blob of humanity (and all that goes with it) and dropped it into the middle of the wilderness, you don’t have to go far from the city before you’re surrounded by nothing but thousands of acres of trees and wilderness. The trip to Denali was only 120 miles or so and we were here before midday, unfortunately, as we couldn’t get a sensible internet connection last night we’d not been able to book ahead so it was just a case of taking pot luck with hotels when we got here and there’s no doubt about it we’re getting ripped-off by staying close to the park entrance. The room we’re in is pretty basic yet very expensive but it is on a property that is close to the park and which runs tours in. As you can’t take your own vehicles into the Park there are two choices you can either take a narrated tour or get a shuttle bus in with no guide so we’ve gone for the narrated tour which was also very expensive but hey ho, we’re not likely to get back here again.

11^th June 2009 – Denali National Park, Alaska.

Today’s trip may have been expensive but it was worth the cost (and the early start). We had a 07:00 pick up from our hotel and were in Denali National Park by around 07:30 on a 40 seat bus with just 13 passengers which was great as we got to move about depending on what there was to see, the bus also came with lunch boxes for 40 so we didn’t go short of food! We’re told that the top of Mount McKinley, which is the highest peak in North America, is only visible about 20% of the time so we were extremely lucky to have perfect views as we drove in to the Park. The scenery was truly great and we also saw plenty of wildlife on our way through i.e. four Grizzly bears, one Moose, lots of Caribou and Dall sheep, a fox and even a mother wolf carrying one of her cubs whilst being followed by two others – fabulous. There were also (very) fleeting glimpses of a Golden eagle and a Lynx to be had. In all the tour lasted 12 hours and by the time we reached hour 10 the top of McKinley was completely obscured by cloud and what had started off as a bright sunny day ended with a thunderstorm so we got to see the Park in two completely different guises. Once we’d arrived back, Graham telephoned a guy who he’d been in contact with over the internet and who happens to live in Wasilla just around 200 miles south of here and we’ve arranged to go and meet him for a beer on Saturday – should be fun.

12^th June 2009 – Denali to Talkeetna, Alaska.

We now know just how lucky we were with the weather yesterday as today dawned very overcast, with a cold wind blowing and with very limited views. As we’re not due to meet up with ‘Moondog’ (we don’t know his real name yet) until Saturday we needed to find somewhere to stop off on the way and when we heard/read about Talkeetna we decided that that should be it. It’s a small community that caters for mountaineers who are heading out to climb McKinley and is also a stop for the Alaska railroad so caters for daytime tourists too. We’re staying in a rather “quaint” motel in which we have a very small room with a T.V. that has a whole three channels, where the internet doesn’t work and where the in-house restaurant isn’t open but the lounge (bar) is!! We’re also told that the town is having a “bit of a bear problem” at the moment so we’ve had to empty everything that’s scented out of the trike, even the wet wipes and sun screen, should make for an interesting night!!

13^th June 2009 – Talkeetna to Wasilla, Alaska.

We like Talkeetna, we’ve decided. The town has a permanent population of around 600 most of whom appear to be the rugged outdoor type and there are some real characters amongst them. The town also has three good bars (and their building a micro brewery) one of which has live music most nights, including last night, there are also a number of restaurants including the Wildflower café which served us up the best meal we’ve had this trip. It’s not somewhere for a long-term stay (unless you’re in to hiking, mountaineering etc.) but is well worth a brief stay. It was raining when we woke this morning so we decided, as we didn’t have far to go, that we’d walk in to town and have breakfast in the hope that the rain would ease off, which it did, we had a few spots of rain along the way but nothing much. We reached Wasilla at lunchtime and called in to the visitor’s centre to see what we could do for a few hours before we needed to meet up with Roger (we know his name now) and just as we got there the ‘phone rang and Roger said he was at home so to go straight round. We had a little difficulty finding the house as there are few road names or house numbers but we got here after a bit of faffing about. We were made to feel very welcome by Roger and his wife Mary-Ellen and we had a really good evening finding out about them both and their way of life which was fascinating particularly as they’ve had varied careers including teaching in some of the remotest parts of Alaska (accessible only by air or sled) and owning/running dog sled teams, Roger even completed the Iditerod in 1994!

14^th June 2009 – Wasilla to Seward, Kenai Peninsula, Alaska.

We left Roger and Mary-Ellen this morning and made our first stop the Iditerod Headquarters/Museum which was very interesting not least because they had some five-week old puppies we were able to hold – ahhh! We also met some of the adult dogs but they seemed to be a bit wary of us in our riding gear, strangely this is the second time dogs have taken a dislike to our suits, I know they’re a bit unusual but I didn’t think they were that bad. The visit included the opportunity to take a sled ride (on a wheeled sled) and although we didn’t partake others did and it was obvious that the dogs loved what they were doing, the noise they made waiting for the off was amazing. From there we headed south through Anchorage and on to Seward via a very pretty highway that ran alongside a huge Fjord for quite a bit of the time, despite the low cloud the views were great. We’ve now booked in to a motel right on the harbour for two nights and we’re going to be taking a full-day boat trip tomorrow.

15^th June 2009 – Seward, Alaska.

We’ve had a fabulous day today, it was overcast when we joined our Wildlife & Fjord cruise but there was little wind so it wasn’t too cold and as the day went on the weather improved. Not long after we left the harbour the boat slowed so that we could take a look at one of my favourite animals, a sea otter, it wasn’t in the least bit bothered about us being there and just laid back and watched us go by. We later saw a pod of around 10 Orca (Killer whales), humpback whales (including a mother and calf and one they estimated was 60 feet long), Stellar sea lions, porpoise, and a variety of bird life. The views of the mountains and glaciers were also superb and we pulled up a half-mile from one of the largest glaciers in the area and sat watching it calve huge lumps of ice into the water, we then went to a wilderness lodge (one that can only be reached by water) and had a very good meal before returning to the harbour. It has to be the best wildlife cruise we’ve ever taken.

16^th June 2009 – Seward to Homer, Alaska.

We left Seward under cloudy skies and it stayed cool and cloudy all day. The run to Homer took us in a loop to the other side of the Kenai Peninsula and a fairly different landscape. Instead of the coastal mountains we had sea views (although partly obscured by cloud) on one side and open land on the other. When we arrived in Homer we took a quick ride down on to the spit of land that houses many of the fishing charters (this is said to be the Halibut fishing capital of the world) tour operators, gift shops and cafes, it’s okay but, as far as we’re concerned, it’s not as nice as Seward. We’re currently booked to stay here for 2 nights so we’ll need to see what we can find to do tomorrow.

17^th June 2009 – Homer to Seldovia to Homer.

We did find something to do today and it proved to be interesting. We took a boat ride across to Seldovia, a small community (around 280 people) that can only be reached by light aircraft or by boat and we stopped en-route to watch otters frolicking in the surf and a mass of varying sea birds. The community itself is built around a natural harbour and still has the remains of a boardwalk which used to be the method of reaching the various buildings at high tide, unfortunately, much of the boardwalk and quite a bit of the original town were destroyed in a very severe earthquake (and the tsunami that followed) in 1964, today it’s a pleasant little place with a few eateries and B&B’s that cater for overnight tourists/fishermen. There are also a number of chainsaw carvings around the town as they host a carving contest each year, they’re very clever and it’s hard to believe that they’ve been made by chainsaw. IT was very overcast for most of the day and we had a rain shower as we left Seldovia but all in all it wasn’t too bad.

18^th June 2009 – Homer to Whittier, Alaska.

It had obviously rained overnight and it was cool and very overcast as we left, it stayed that way for most of the day but we also had a few rain showers too. The majority of our journey was a reverse run of the trip to Seward/Homer during which we passed the Russian River which was full of fisherman, we’ve never seen so many people stood up the knees in a river, it does seem to be a big sport here. We then turned off approximately 40 miles south of Anchorage and headed to Whittier via the ‘new’ Whittier tunnel. Now, we’ve ridden through plenty of tunnels before but this one was a little different as, until recently, the town could only be accessed by boat or by rail until, that was, someone came up with the idea of allowing road-going vehicles to drive through along the railway tracks – yes, really; road traffic alternates direction every half-hour as the tunnel is only one lane wide BUT you then have to allow for the trains to come through!! As there are certain hazards for motorcycles i.e. you have to ride across the tracks at the start and finish of the tunnel and the surface is not really conducive to motorcycles, they work a system of sending them through last with a gap before and after so we waited our turn (in the rain) whilst sitting next to the train that was going to follow us through – very strange! The town itself is based right at the start of Prince William Sound and has little to offer but a small boat harbour and a ferry terminal, we’re staying here in the only hotel (with great views), so that we can take a ferry across to Valdez tomorrow afternoon. We decided to take the ferry as the Sound is supposed to be beautiful and it also saves us quite a few miles most of which would have been duplicated on the way out.

19^th June 2009 – Whittier to Valdez via the Alaska Marine Highway.

We checked out of our hotel as late as possible this morning as our ferry wasn’t due to leave until 14:45 and once we’d checked out we went for a walk around town, that killed nearly 15 minutes!!! The ‘downtown’ area of Whittier is no more than a few gift shops and cafes other than that there really is nothing there; all very quaint. As it turned out it was well worth the wait as those who told us that Prince William Sound was pretty were right, we had great views all the way along and there was even a US Forestry Park Ranger on board telling us what we were seeing and indicating points of interest along the way (The Sound is flanked on both sides by the Chugach National Forest). Whilst waiting for the ferry we met two guys from northern B.C. and they’ve provided us with some very useful information (and a map) for our return journey. We had already decided that, having ridden the Alaska Highway once, we had no real desire to ride it again in reverse so had booked a 37 hour ferry journey from Haines, Alaska to Prince Rupert in B.C. and these guys have suggested we take yet another two ferries and go visit Vancouver Island before we leave. They’ve also confirmed what we feared i.e. that there is little to be seen across Saskatchewan and Manitoba and they’ve strongly suggested we take the most direct route through so we may well be following their guidance, we’ll have to check on the ferry schedules to see what we can do. Mileage to date 7620.

20^th June 2009 – Valdez, Alaska.

Valdez is a sleepy little town that caters mostly for fisherfolk, hikers and kayakers, there isn’t too much on offer for those of us wanting to take a lazier option. There are a couple of small museums, gifts shops and cafes but not much else unless, of course, you count the huge oil terminal (and end of the Alaska Pipeline) that’s just across the bay and the fabulous scenery that has, unfortunately largely been obscured by low cloud and light rain all day. So we’ve spent our day milling around town, browsing the shops and watching a couple of interesting films about the history of the town; one about the building of the Alaska pipeline and the other about the massive earthquake that hit the area in 1964 devastating whole towns particularly along the coast as they suffered a number of tsunamis in the wake of the earthquake, it was very sobering to see the damage caused to towns we have stayed in over the past few weeks. By the way, we have booked the ferry from Prince Rupert to Port Hardy on Vancouver Island so have just added a whole new area to our trip.

21^st June 2009 – Valdez to Glennallen, Alaska.

It was cold and very overcast when we left this morning on the only road route out of Valdez. The road takes you through mountain valleys, a gorge full of waterfalls and across the Thompson Pass, the only true mountain pass we’ve come across since we got up here; it only reaches 2678 feet but feels much higher and looks a bit like some of the Alpine passes. It was cold and windy as we rode through the Pass and it made us really appreciate the hardships that the Alaska Pipeline workers must have endured building the line during the winter, according to the film we saw yesterday this was considered the hardest stretch to build because of the steepness of the mountains and the cold, windy weather. We also had another first today, we saw a real live Porcupine just sitting at the side of the road, unfortunately, I wasn’t quick enough with the camera as I thought it was just a clump of dried out grass!! We also came across an interesting little roadhouse (Tonsina Roadhouse), one of the original places built to support the gold pioneers and road workers, it looks rather like it’s about to fall down but the people who run the adjacent ‘new’ roadhouse were very friendly and offered everyone who was passing free coffee, you don’t find that kind of hospitality very often these days.

22^nd June 2009 – Glennallen to Beaver Creek, Yukon.

It was cool and overcast again as we left this morning and took the ‘Tok cut-off’ for 110 miles of a roller coaster ride (due to frost heaves). We stopped for lunch at Tok and realised that someone had been trying to contact us by ‘phone, we eventually got back to them only to find that it was The Alaska Marine Highway calling to tell us that our ferry from Haines to Prince Rupert has been cancelled because of ‘technical difficulties’ and the only real options were for us to cancel and drive back (Nooooo!!) or book two separate ferries one from Haines to Juneau and a second one from Juneau to Prince Rupert. We’ve gone for the second option but, unfortunately, this means we’ll miss our ferry to Vancouver Island by around six hours – bugger! It didn’t help that we’re spending tonight in a hotel we’ve used before which is in the middle of nowhere and doesn’t even have T.V or telephone in the rooms. Getting on to the internet to change all the ferry and hotel bookings was impossible but we’ve managed to make all the necessary changes by ‘phone having been ably assisted by the staff at the hotel (the staff were the reason we returned to this hotel, all have proven to be extremely friendly and helpful), we’ve now re-booked everything up to and including 30^th June – phew! Now all we have to look forward to is the next 110 miles of the Alaskan highway which is by far the worst section of all – I think I hear the bar calling……

23^rd June 2009 – Beaver Creek to Haines Junction, Yukon.

Another cool, overcast start to the day although we found sunshine and strong winds later in the day. We had not been looking forward to today’s ride and for good reason however, we made better progress than expected as we took it very easy and kept our speed down so the roadway didn’t seem quite so bad. Until, that was, we reached the construction works around the lower edge of Lake Kluane, they weren’t good when we went up but were ten times worse on the way back. It seems they have recently run a tracked vehicle over the gravel they laid a month or so ago and it was like riding over five miles of sleeping policemen (they call it the washboard effect), the ruts were around three to four inches deep and were simply one after the other all they way. It made for a very uncomfortable ride particularly for Graham whose artificial leg kept coming off of the footrest!! By the time we reached Haines Junction we were covered in dust and both surprised that nothing had fallen off but luckily it hadn’t.

24^th June 2009 – Haines Junction to Haines, Alaska.

What a cracking ride. We had been told that the scenery along this route was good and that proved to be an understatement, it was equally as scenic as the road in to Skagway although very different. The entire journey was only around 150 miles and all of it was really pretty, for the majority of the time the road surface was good and we were on a gently winding road surrounded by Mountains – fabulous. We arrived in Haines at around lunchtime and were able to check in to our motel early so had the afternoon to wander around town. Once again, it’s not a very big town but there are a number of stores, cafes and bars so there was enough to keep us occupied. There is also a historic fort site at the other end of town and, as were here for two nights because of the ferry changes, we decided not to visit that today but to walk across there tomorrow to see what that has to offer.

25^th June 2009 – Haines, Alaska.

Well, today has certainly been an interesting day; we spent this morning looking around town, visiting the local museum and doing a little shopping before heading up to Fort Seward where we met up with a local guy called Gene Kennedy. Some of you will remember an old friend named Steve Cawthorne who tragically lost his life in 1993 whilst on his motorcycling world tour, well Steve came through this way in 1990 and we have photographs he took at one of Gene’s barbeques here in Haines which were apparently famous locally. When we arrived in town yesterday we decided that it would be good to see if Gene still lived in town so asked at the tourist office if we could look him up in the telephone book but we didn’t need to as they knew Gene and provided us with his number. So, as I said, we met up with Gene (and Shorty the dog) at the house he’s renovating within the grounds of the Fort before going for a very pleasant lunch and a chat both about Steve and about the local area.

26^th June 2009 – Haines to Juneau to Sitka via The Alaska Marine Highway.

We left early this morning and headed to the ferry terminal to catch our first boat to Juneau. We were expecting the boat to be pretty full as it was accommodating those of us who had had their previous boat cancelled, there were a number of other bikes/riders there who had re-scheduled but it wasn’t as crowded as we’d expected. The journey to Juneau was a pleasant one with mountain views on either side of the boat and once we arrived we had a number of hours to ‘kill’ so took a ride in to town to see if the Red Dog Saloon that we had visited sixteen years ago (off of our cruise) was still there; it was so we had lunch there before taking a drive around the city (which is much bigger than we remember) and visiting the Mendenhall Glacier. There are only around 200 miles of road in the Juneau area and you have to arrive either by boat or by air so we rode a good number of those miles before heading back to the ferry terminal for our next boat. The second boat was slightly smaller and, bearing in mind we’re on here for two full days/nights, doesn’t have too much in the way of facilities. For those of you who are familiar with the European ferries it’s about a quarter the size of the Harwich/Hook boats has a small cafeteria (which is much cheaper than the European ones) and a tiny bar. We were very lucky as we still had a cabin but many who’d booked one on the original Prince Rupert boat didn’t. Whilst one board we’ve got to talking to a number of the other bikers, some from California, some Georgia, some Pennsylvania, some Montana/North Dakota and two from Germany who have been travelling for very nearly two years and intend carrying on for at least another year, the conversation on board has certainly made up for the lack of facilities.

27^th June 2009 – Sitka to Wrangell via The Alaska Marine Highway.

Today has been a bit of a dead loss really; part of the reason for taking this route (apart from avoiding the ride back down the Alaska Highway) was to see the scenery of the Inside Passage but around mid-morning it started to rain hard and it simply didn’t stop. As a result the observation deck became the ‘can’t see much of anything deck’ and there were very few views to be had. The boat had only three seating areas (including the cafeteria) and none of them were particularly comfortable so the day stretched into a very long one. The most interesting part of the day came late on when the Captain manoeuvred the boat through a very narrow channel that required very slow speeds and a slalom course through lighted buoys, very impressive. We spent the evening in the bar and enjoyed more great conversation with some of our fellow motorcyclist and others. We also joined them in drinking a local ‘delicacy’ called a Ducks Fart (really) and, despite the name it tasted pretty good. It was still pouring with rain when we quit and went to bed.

28^th June 2009 – Wrangell to Prince Rupert, British Columbia via the Alaska Marine Highway.

More rain this morning only not quite so much so the views got marginally better along the way. We’ve met a lot of very nice people over the past few days and now have places to stay in various parts of the U.S. if/when we want them so the trip wasn’t a total washout. We reached Prince Rupert this afternoon and had our most time consuming Customs check yet, nothing heavy but more thorough. We’re now checked in to the same motel we used last time we passed through here and we’re hoping that, as a month has passed, there will be more to do in town as we have the whole day to spend here tomorrow.

29^th June 2009 – Prince Rupert, British Columbia.

We spent yesterday evening in a very nice restaurant next door to the hotel which overlooks the waterfront, we know it does ‘cos we saw it earlier in the day but during the evening it was raining so hard that you really couldn’t see. It was still very overcast this morning but not quite so wet and it’s now starting to brighten up a bit. We’ve spent the day wandering around town, visiting the town Museum and doing some essential shopping (shampoo etc. – really exciting). We have to be at the ferry terminal at 05:30 tomorrow for our boat to Vancouver Island so it’s going to be an early night for us tonight.

30^th June 2009 – Prince Rupert to Port Hardy, Vancouver Island via the Inside Passage.

Today was a very long day; we were up at 04:30, at the ferry terminal by 05:15 and on our way by 07:30. The ferry was much bigger than the Alaska boats and almost brand new so the facilities were better, although if you wanted to sit in the observation deck it cost a further $30 per head, so we didn’t. When we left it was pretty overcast and cold but the weather improved the further south we went, so we had some great views and also did some whale watching along the way. We finally arrived at Port Hardy at around 23:30 so didn’t make it to our motel until around midnight, as I said, it felt like a very long day.

1^st July 2009 (Canada Day) – Port Hardy to Qualicum Beach, Vancouver Island.

We were a little later than usual leaving this morning as there were a few minor maintenance procedures needed on the Trike (like tightening the exhaust that had been rattled loose). It was bright and sunny but cool as we rode the first 40 miles or so to our brunch stop which we took at a pretty little harbour village. The next 120 miles or so took us mostly through managed forest where there was a lot of evidence of recent logging. Once we reached the mid-point of the island we were able to take to the coast road which was much prettier and we’re now holed up in a very nice waterfront motel with a view of the water and the mountains and which has a very nice restaurant next-door. Just to make it even more pleasant the sun has stayed out all day and it’s now positively hot – just the right weather for sitting outside and having a drink…..

2^nd July 2009 – Qualicum Beach to Victoria, Vancouver Island.

It was warm and sunny all day today as we made our way south along some very pretty coastline to the city of Victoria. This has to be the biggest city we’ve seen in a while, not huge by normal standards but it seemed big and busy to us having been used to largely empty roads for the last umpteen weeks. Once we’d worked out where we were we booked in to a motel on the waterfront (not cheap but in a good position for visiting) and have just returned from a hop-on-hop-off bus tour of what turns out to be a very pretty city, a very pleasant way to spend an afternoon. We’re going to be leaving the island tomorrow as we’re starting to run out of time to get back across to Maryland, it may be that we have to ride a few long days but we’ll see.

3^rd July 2009 – Victoria to Kelowna, British Columbia.

We were up and out by 07:00 this morning as we planned to travel to Kelowna via the Crowsnest Highway, a less direct but prettier route. We managed to catch the 08:00 ferry from Sydney, just outside Victoria to Taswwassan just outside Vancouver, we were off the ferry and on the road by 09:40 but unfortunately, it was the wrong road!! Well, technically it wasn’t wrong just ill advised as it took us through half of Vancouver before we got to the pretty bits. Had we realised we would have jumped on the Interstate for the first 40 miles or so instead of wasting at least an hour. When we did get to the pretty bits they were very pretty, nothing dramatic but very pretty. There were also two things we came across today that we’re just not used to i.e. lots of traffic (half of which doesn’t seem to have indicators fitted) and heat, the temperatures reached 93F by mid afternoon and it was still really hot when we eventually arrived in Kelowna just after 18:00. We’re now checked in to a very nice motel (it should be for the price) and will shortly be making use of the 2 for 1 voucher we have for their bar! Total mileage to date – 9043.

4^th July 2009 – Kelowna to Banff, Alberta.

It was hot and sunny again this morning, 75F by 09:30. We’ve spent the day making our way North and East back to Banff through the wine producing and fruit growing region, then some very pretty mountains and past some lovely lakes. The traffic has probably been the worst we’ve seen so far as we’re back in the Rockies i.e. tourist country and there have been hoards of campers, boats and allsorts making their way out for the weekend. One of the reasons we’ve come back to Banff is because our friends (from England) Ann & Roger are over here on a tour and just happen to be staying in Banff for a few days so we’ve arranged to meet up for the evening. We’ve really noticed the difference though, there are probably three times as many people about as there were six weeks ago and we’re staying in the same hotel that we used last time only now the cost has more than doubled.

5^th July 2009 – Banff to Medicine Hat, Alberta.

We had a really good evening swapping travel stories with Ann & Roger although it did seem odd meeting up with them so far from home. It was very overcast and threatening as we left this morning so we added another layer of clothing, which was fine except that by the time we stopped this afternoon, it had reached 76F!! The first 40 miles or so saw us coming through and out of the Rockies and onto the Prairies; talk about a difference, we’ve gone from snow capped mountains to mile upon mile of flat open farmland with very little to see except massive expanses of grassland with the odd small oil/gas installation along the way. We’ve stopped here in Medicine Hat as there is plenty of accommodation here and, apparently, none for another 200 miles or so. We mentioned to the lady on the motel reception that the ride had been pretty boring and she very gently let slip that it only gets worse from here – oh well!!

6^th July 2009 – Medicine Hat to Regina, Saskatchewan.

We had heavy rain and thunderstorms overnight but the weather had improved to just overcast and blustery by the time we left. We’ve travelled another 300 miles across the Prairies and although the road does rise and fall from time to time the view hasn’t changed, it’s just grassland followed by more grassland. We did find an interesting little place to stop for lunch though; just off the highway was the community of Mortlach which was one street wide and around ¼ mile long which had a very good Café/Restaurant, the ‘Wagon’s West Cookhouse’ and a tea shop but not much else. Our stopover tonight was also determined by the availability of accommodation and tomorrow’s probably will be too although with the weather forecast being less than positive we may go for the shorter of the two options i.e. around 220 miles, it’s either that or 360 miles!

7^th July 2009 – Regina to Brandon, Manitoba.

It was cool, wet and windy when we left this morning, not ideal weather for travelling across the open Prairies. Thankfully, the wind dropped considerably as the morning went on but it didn’t stop raining until shortly before we reached Brandon; this has to have been the wettest ride we’ve had on this trip so far. Consequently we went for the earlier stop which worked out quite well as we discovered at our lunch stop in another nice little town, that we had lost another hour so we’re now just 6 hours ahead of the U.K. The landscape has changed a bit today too, there are more trees about and the views aren’t quite so vast and open, definitely a bit more interesting.

8^th July 2009 – Brandon to Dryden, Ontario.

The weather was much kinder to us today with warm sunshine and lighter winds all the way. The scenery has improved too as we’ve crossed in to Ontario’s lake region and there are quite literally hundreds of lakes of all shapes and sizes. We’ve also had quite a long day (around 350 miles) as the weather front we came through yesterday is supposed to be following us so we’ve tried to get ahead of it – time will tell!!

9^th July 2009 – Dryden to Thunder Bay, Ontario.

We left early again this morning in an attempt to stay ahead of the weather. It was sunny when we first woke up but we could see the cloud heading our way and as we rode further east we could see blue sky ahead and a big black cloud following us, thankfully, it didn’t catch us up. We did, however, have a strong blustery wind to contend with which made parts of the journey quite uncomfortable. There were more twists and turns in the road today and an impressive waterfall that we stopped to view so, all in all, not a bad day. Total mileage to date 10,699.

10^th July 2009 – Thunder Bay to Marathon, Ontario.

The storm finally caught up with us last night and had passed through Thunder Bay by the time we woke up this morning. It may seem a little crazy to some of you that we try so hard to avoid the bad weather but the storm that’s just passed through has, unfortunately, caused havoc and two fatalities just north of where we spent Wednesday night after an unconfirmed tornado passed through the area – you see, it really is worth avoiding! As the storm is still making it’s way further east we didn’t want to catch it up again so left late and planned a short days ride and it’s just as well we did. It was hot and humid when we left this morning but as we rode around the top of Lake Superior the temperature dropped dramatically and the last hour of our journey was spent riding through cold thick fog. The scenery wasn’t quite what we expected either, the map lead us to believe that we would be riding along the side of the Lake but you’re actually a mile or so away (for the most part) and only get to see glimpses of the Lake as you go, it’s not been a bad ride but not what we expected.

11^th July 2009 – Marathon to Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario.

Today has been an altogether better day; it was cool but sunny for most of the day although there was a very strong wind for the last 50 miles or so. The scenery was better too with more views of the lake and more interesting roads generally. As we didn’t have breakfast before leaving we made a brunch stop at a small community called White River where the Winnie the Pooh stories all started, this is where an army veterinarian adopted an orphaned bear which he called Winnie and the rest, as they say, is history.

12^th July 2009 – Sault Ste. Marie to Sudbury, Ontario.

There really isn’t too much to report today, we’ve had a relatively short ride with little to see en-route and the weather has been okay with a mix of sun and clouds. From here we’re going to be heading towards Toronto before we cross the border at Niagara so we’re expecting the traffic to increase considerably, it’s a shame, but we had to meet the traffic somewhere I suppose.

13^th July 2009 – Sudbury to Barrie, Ontario.

Another day of not much to report; we’ve had another relatively short day as the alternative would have been to stay in Toronto which didn’t appeal, instead we’ll be riding through tomorrow and crossing back in to the U.S. at Niagara Falls. The weather today has been a little trying with very strong winds again but at least the sun was shining. Total mileage to date 11,523.

14^th July 2009 – Barrie to Bradford, Pennsylvania, U.S.A.

The start of our journey was pretty much as we expected as we had no option but to go through Toronto, it’s not a case of IF you go through just which road you take to get through. Toronto appears to be everything I hate about a city, full of traffic, rubbish road signs, equally rubbish driving and road works, lovely. The traffic pretty much stayed with us all the way down to the border at Niagara Falls which, incidentally, are better seen from the Canadian side, it’s definitely a better view from there. We then made our way south through one of the worst managed set of road works we’ve ever come across (we sat waiting while four lots of traffic came the other way and they didn’t have anyone to stop the traffic from the side roads so it was chaos) and then the worst piece of Interstate we’ve ever come across, the surface was so bad we were down to around 35 miles an hour!! We don’t have too many miles ahead of us now so we need to decide which route we’re going to take tomorrow.

15^th July 2009 – Bradford to Bedford, Pennyslvania.

Today has been a much better day with warm/hot sunshine all day and some pretty roads to ride. The route we chose took us through part of the Allegheny National Forest and the Blue Knob State Park and it’s been an altogether more relaxed journey. We’ll be back in the traffic for a while tomorrow as we plan to get ourselves through Baltimore and nicely positioned for arriving at Jeff’s on Friday so that we can spend a bit of time with him and Edith before we fly home on Friday week.

16^th July 2009 – Bedford to Kent Narrows, Maryland.

We had a really good evening yesterday, the restaurant/bar attached to the motel we were in advertised live music on Wednesdays and it turned out that there were a group of seven people playing Bluegrass music, essentially for themselves; they seemed to be having a great time playing and we certainly enjoyed listening and even better, it was free to get in. Today has been really hot and humid starting off at 78F when we left this morning and reaching 96F as we skirted around Baltimore. The first part of the journey was very pleasant with nice winding roads through the Pennsylvania countryside and then on through Gettysburg. Shortly after that we joined the Interstate system to get us around the city (via the Arundel Mills Shopping Mall) and across the Bay Bridge. We’re staying just south of the bridge so we should have an easy run down to Jeff & Edith’s tomorrow morning.

17^th July 2009 – Kent Narrows to Ocean City, Maryland.

We had an easy run down this morning, still very hot and humid (91F) but not unpleasant. We arrived around lunchtime so once we were settled in Jeff took us downtown to eat (Edith was at work) before we helped him run a few errands e.g. taking some furniture to his storage locker. The evening was spent catching up and generally relaxing at home. Total tour mileage 12,222.

18^th July 2009 – Ocean City Maryland.

One of Jeff’s friends/neighbours, Joe, is currently looking for another motorcycle as the Boss Hoss trike he has won’t fit in the trailer to accompany him to Florida for the winter. As he was looking for a second opinion on what to buy we and Jeff accompanied him to Salisbury to visit the Honda and Suzuki/Yamaha dealers to see what he could find. As he’s 6’6” it’s no easy task finding a bike that he can ride comfortably but at least he has some ideas now. After we’d eaten this evening we went along to one of the big hotels downtown to see a band that included another of Jeff & Edith’s neighbours and we spent a couple of hours listening to them before making our way to a local watering hole for a nightcap. Talk about different ends of the spectrum, the first band could best be described as a typical wedding band (trying to be all things to all people) and the second was very definitely heavy metal and LOUD!!

19^th July 2009 - Ocean City, Maryland.

The four of us had a late start this morning so went for brunch at a converted fire station, very nice steak and eggs! From there we went shopping for some of the stuff we wanted to bring home with us and we were pretty successful overall. We ate out again before going home to spend the evening watching the drag racing on the T.V.

20^th July 2009 – Ocean City, Maryland.

Another morning spent trying to spend some money, this time at the Outlet Malls at Rehoboth Beach and, not so successfully. At lunchtime we took a break from shopping and went to see the new Ice Age movie, which wasn’t bad but probably not as good as the first two. A little more shopping followed before we drove home along the coast.

21^st July 2009 – Ocean City, Maryland.

We were woken early this morning by pelting rain and thunder, it stopped soon after we were up but, unlike at home, the weather stayed very hot and humid and there were a one or two heavy showers as the day went on. As we’d received a message via Victoria saying that there had been a hiccup with our hairdresser appointments next Monday I went along to a friend of Jeff’s to have my haircut this morning. Colleen’s salon is at her ‘little home’, a very nice single storey property on two acres of ground with a huge double garage and a “cocktail pool” (she says she doesn’t swim in it just walks up and down in the water with a cocktail). Later in the day Jeff took Graham and I to the local driving range which, as neither of us had ever held a real golf club before was both amusing and good fun. I’m still not sure how I got bruises on my forearm!! This evening Ed came to the house for dinner, it was nice to catch up with him and to talk to him about the work we need doing on the trike over the winter.

22^nd July 2009 – Ocean City, Maryland.

This morning Graham went to the local limb fitting centre with Jeff (he’s a double below knee amputee) and left me at home to start the packing. I say start because I wasn’t able to finish as either the bags have shrunk or we’ve bought too much stuff to take home (again) as a result we went out again this afternoon to buy another bag to bring it all home. Graham and I dropped the trike off at Ed’s late this morning before taking him out to lunch and this evening we took Jeff and Edith to “Sakura”, a Japanese restaurant where the diners sit around three sides of the very large hot plate and watch the food being cooked with lots of theatre. We were joined at our ‘table’ by a family with three small children who were all REALLY well behaved (the little one who was about 2 or 3 was fascinated by the fire and by the onion volcano the chef set off) and who were prepared to try all sorts of foods – good for them.

23^rd July 2009 – Ocean City, Maryland.

We were woken early again this morning, only this time not by rain but by a very loud crash, tinkle tinkle sound from downstairs (not that Jeff and Edith heard it!), we both got up, got dressed and went to investigate to find that the six mantle antique lamp that was over the dining table yesterday was now on the dining table having pulled out of the ceiling!! Luckily none of the glass mantles had broken, just one bulb and a glass that had been left on the table. We cleaned up as best we could and blocked off the kitchen area (so the dogs wouldn’t walk on any bits we’d missed) before heading back to bed. Later this morning we had a visit from Jeff’s son Gary, his wife Kirsten and their baby daughter Cassia who is now four months old and starting to get interested in everything, very sweet. We will be going downtown to eat this evening and will be leaving here heading for the airport tomorrow afternoon.

24^th July 2009 – Leaving Ocean City.

Yesterday evenings meal was, unfortunately, a bit of a disappointment. The food we had was okay but the menu was very limited and the service can only be described as poor which is unusual for over here; we still enjoyed the evening because of the company but it could have been better. We collected our rental car this morning and, this time, got a much more sensible sized car. Most of this morning was spent relaxing at home before we went for an early lunch with Jeff and Edith before leaving for the airport. As it was Friday afternoon there was a lot of traffic on our journey to Baltimore but it was a relatively easy run and we arrived in plenty of time only to find out that our flight had been delayed by around an hour. The delay was a bit of a pain as there really isn’t anything to do at BWI (once you pass through security there is one small café, a very small duty free shop and a newsstand selling newspapers, sweets etc. and that’s it), we eventually took off at 22:00.

25^th July 2009 – Baltimore to Home.

Our flight was uneventful and almost on time as the jet stream was on our side and they managed to catch up most of the lost hour. Heathrow terminal 5 turned out to be a real pain again; the “new, high tech” terminal doesn’t have enough aircraft ramps so we were, one again, off-loaded on the tarmac and on to buses to drive half way round the airport before we could get our baggage. Richard had very kindly offered to pick us up and was there waiting when we arrived. From there we had an uneventful if slow (road works on the M25), journey arriving home around midday. For a variety of reasons it looks as though this will be our last long tour for little while, but, who knows!!